This invention relates to hub caps and mounts attached to tire rims. More particularly, it refers to a universal mount for attachment to tire rims. The mount is intended to be installed on a hubcap so that the hubcap can be removably affixed to any type of wheel rim. Hubcaps are well known vehicle accessories that are typically installed on a wheel to which a tire is mounted for aesthetic purposes, particularly to shield or hide the threaded nuts holding the wheel on the vehicle axle and also because the middle of a typical wheel is not aesthetically pleasing.
The typical hubcap is installed on the typical wheel through an interference fit between a peripheral rim of the hubcap and a peripheral surface of the wheel. FIG. 1 depicts a typical prior art situation wherein a wheel 1 includes a peripheral surface 2 as well as a central surface 3 having openings 4 through which wheel mounting bolts 5 protrude with threaded nuts 6 threaded onto the bolts 5 to hold the wheel on the axle 7 of the associated vehicle. A prior art hubcap 8 has a peripheral axially extending portion 9 that engages the surface 2 of the wheel 1 in an interference fit. As should be understood from FIG. 1, the hubcap 8 is specifically sized and configured so that it only may be removably affixed to a wheel such as the wheel 1 having the particular surface 2 incorporated therewith. Unless the wheel 1 has the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the hubcap 8 may not be installed thereon.
A need has developed for a universal mount that will enable a hubcap to be affixed to any one of a number of configurations of wheels including MAG wheels. It is with this need in mind that the present invention was developed.
The following prior art is known to Applicant:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,722,460 to Dieterich discloses a fastening device for spoke simulating shrouds that includes a clip surrounding a peripheral ring on a hubcap and a further clip having a distal end affixed to a surface of a wheel with the further clip attached to the first-mentioned clip by a screw extending through an opening in the further clip and threadably attached to the first-mentioned clip. The present invention differs from the teachings of Dieterich as contemplating two types of clips, one that is spring loaded in a holder and the other of which may be tightened down through the use of a threaded screw.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,389,937 to Brumfield discloses a wheel cover having a plurality of peripherally spaced clips to affix the wheel cover to a wheel. The present invention differs from the teachings of Brumfield as contemplating means for adjusting the position of each clip and allowing them to accommodate to wheels of differing dimensions.
Applicant is also aware of U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,989 to Hsiao et al. Hsiao et al. disclose a wheel cover having a peripheral configuration similar to that which is depicted in prior art FIG. 1 herein. The present invention may be employed as a modification to a wheel cover such as that which is disclosed by Hsiao et al. to adapt the Hsiao et al. wheel cover to wheels of differing dimensions.